House to Vote to Ban Rules on New Light Bulbs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is taking up one of the more uncommon questions of this legislative year: whether Americans are being forced to sacrifice personal freedoms for a better light bulb.

House Republicans are pushing legislation that would overturn measures in a 2007 energy act requiring the adoption of more efficient versions of the incandescent light bulb invented by Thomas Edison in 1879.

Republicans say the new standards, signed into law by President George W. Bush, are a symbol of an overreaching federal government and people should have the right to buy traditional, cheap and reliable incandescent bulbs.

The Obama administration and environmentalists say new bulbs on the market will save American households billions of dollars in energy costs. The administration opposes the House Republican bill.